


Family First

by Vultoni_and_Arnaera



Series: VnA’s Fic Dump - HSC Edition [2]
Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Cyborg Terrence Suave, Gen, Henry son of Terrence and Randy, Inspired by Fanfiction, Mind Control, No Beta, Toppat Recruits Ending | TR (Henry Stickmin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27414814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vultoni_and_Arnaera/pseuds/Vultoni_and_Arnaera
Summary: "This was a nightmare. It had to be a nightmare"Following the launch of the Orbital Station, Henry and Ellie became loyal members of the Toppat Clan. Even though he was hesitant to join the criminal organization that once nearly killed both his parents, Henry has been thriving in the two months since joining. He could almost be happy here.Of course it wouldn't last.Someone wants revenge, and there's no cruelty they will spare to achieve it. The question is, revenge against who? Reginald? Henry? The Toppat Clan as a whole? Or Terrence himself, the unwilling puppet in this vengeance?
Relationships: Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin, Randy Radman/Terrence Suave
Series: VnA’s Fic Dump - HSC Edition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002828
Comments: 16
Kudos: 124





	1. Like a Broken Picture Frame

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Terrible Day](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27383593) by [FlamingRedAnon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlamingRedAnon/pseuds/FlamingRedAnon). 



> Another for the Drabble Dump! Fun Fact: this fic is the reason I separated each fic out into their own work. I can't credit just one chapter as inspired by a work, so some reformatting had to be done. 
> 
> Entirely Inspired by FlamingRedAnon's "A Terrible Day." If you haven't read it yet, go do it. It's such a good fic and AU idea.
> 
> After I read it, this idea popped into my head and begged to be written. I love writing angst, even if I don't do it all that often. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings for this Chapter: Non-Explicit Emeto. It's only in two lines, but I know this really bugs some people.
> 
> Cross-posted on tumblr at vultoni-and-arnaera.
> 
> As always let me know what you think! Feedback of any kind is appreciated!

This was a nightmare. It had to be a nightmare.

Henry stared at the report screen, fighting to keep the horror off his face.

_This isn't happening. Oh god, don't let this be happening._

"We've identified the cyborg as former chief Terrence Suave. As you know, he nearly ran the Toppat Clan into the ground. It seems that even after he was thrown out, it still wasn't enough. He's come back for revenge," Reginald said from the front of the room. For all that he sounded calm, there was an undercurrent of agitation in the chief's voice.

"He's been attacking stray groups and bases, resulting in many casualties. We cannot let this stand!"

Reginald's voice swelled into shouting, conviction and righteous anger laced into his words.

Henry felt ice down his spine and in his stomach as the Toppats around him roared in agreement.

"We will prepare a raiding party for the job, and only the best will be chosen for this mission. By this time tomorrow, the threat will be no more! Terrence Suave has harmed the Toppat Clan for the last time! We will bring him down, and see that his reign of terror is finally ended!"

Henry couldn't listen anymore. He slipped out of the crowd, careful not to draw too much attention to himself. The growing chill had spread to his entire body, and his heart ached from the cold. The only other thing he felt was nausea.

As the noise in the room grew, he shut the security door behind him. He slumped against it and began to shake. Full-body tremors wracked through him as he covered his mouth with a hand. He won't be sick here, he won't, even though his stomach felt like it was turning itself inside out.

_This is just too cruel. I can't watch this. It's too much._

_Dad..._

Back in the assembly hall, Ellie looked back at the door that Henry had fled through. He had looked a little green around the gills as he practically ran out. He may have just gotten sick, but Ellie's instincts were shrieking that something was wrong. In all the time she'd known him, Henry had never looked so shaken, like something had scared him to his very core.

She'll have to keep an eye on him.

* * *

The photograph was old and creased, yellowed in the folds and slightly ragged around the edges. It showed an older man with graying salt-and-pepper hair with his hands on the shoulders of a young boy with vibrant white hair. Both were smiling for the camera.

It was one of Henry's most precious possessions.

He'd been hesitant to bring any family photos on board the space station. After all, both of his fathers were former chiefs, and not very well liked ones at that. They were both highly recognizable, and Henry didn't know what would happen if it was discovered he was their son. He certainly didn't want it getting out that they were still alive, quietly living out their days in a small suburb.

 _It's a little late for that now._

Henry felt the nausea return. He'd managed to get back to his quarters after the assembly with no incidents other than getting stopped by Ellie. He was able to play off his hasty exit as nothing more than an upset stomach. She didn't entirely seem to believe him but let him go easily enough.

And that left him here, sitting on his bed with a photograph of him and his dad and a sinking feeling in his chest.

_Why? Who would do something like this?_

Because Dad wouldn't do something like this in his right mind. He made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with the Toppat Clan anymore. He didn't want to see or hear from them ever again. And he certainly didn't want _revenge._

But someone clearly did. Someone who had a grudge and the means to turn someone into a cyborg, to turn a loving father into a vicious killer.

Henry drops to the floor, only barely managing to get hold of the trashcan before he's throwing up into it. For what feels like an eternity he's paralyzed there, heaving into the plastic bucket.

The wave passes and he shoves the can away, breathing heavily and trembling all over. Tears spill from his eyes, slipping down his face and onto the floor.

He's choking on the air he's trying to breathe and sobbing brokenly as his world falls apart.

Henry can't do this. He can't.

He wants to be home, to be in that warmly familiar space where everything just made sense.

He wants his dads. Like a little kid he wants to hide in their arms, protected and away from the big and terrifying world.

A thought occurs to him. A horrible thought that makes him feels sick all over again.

_Where's Papa? Did they take him too? Or did they-_

Henry slams the door shut on that line of thought. He didn't know anything for sure. Sitting here lost in worst-case scenarios would get him nowhere.

There was one quick way he could check. He's dialing the number before he even registers what he's doing.

Straight to voicemail.

Henry's panic grows. It feels suffocating, like a mass of darkness filling his lungs and crushing his soul.

He tries the home phone, the club Papa works at, and Dad's phone before cycling back to Papa's cellphone.

No answer.

Henry hangs his head, the pressure in his chest strangling his heart. He feels numb, the kind of numb that takes over his thoughts and leaves him feeling desolate.

He presses the photograph over his heart, desperately holding on to the remnants of warmth contained in the memory.

The laughter and joy from that day echoes through his head. It was a warm family outing, a gorgeous autumn day before the earth grew cold with the approaching winter. Vividly he remembers Papa holding the camera and smiling brightly at them, his shutter shades perched up on his head.

Henry curls in on himself, suddenly slammed with a wave of grief.

_I'm never going to see them again, am I?_

The last time he saw them was just after the launch. He'd come home on leave to see them, to let them know he was okay after being taken by The Wall. They'd been hesitant about him joining the Toppat Clan but supportive. After all, they knew what it was like to have no other options left and were just glad to see him alive and well.

That was two months ago. He kept in touch with a weekly phone call, told them about the crazy shenanigans he and Ellie got up to.

He wishes he'd visited them more.

He wanted to introduce them to Ellie, to show them how much his skills have improved, to make them proud.

He wanted his dads.

A notification pops up on his phone. Seeing it plunges his heart deep into his stomach.

It's about the raid. He's not been selected for the assault team. They wouldn't pick a recruit for this.

He wants to throw his phone against the wall, watch it shatter into pieces just like he was.

He wants to curl up in a ball and sob until there's no tears left to cry, to drown in his grief and misery.

A single thought, quiet and hopeful, stops him.

The attack is tomorrow. There's still a chance to save him, still a chance to bring Dad to his senses.

Henry squashes it down. He doesn't need any false hope, not now.

But his brain is already forming a plan. He could steal the file for the assault to get the coordinates, sneak into the teleporter room, and hijack one of the teleportation platforms. He'd be gone before anyone realized what was happening, and with an untraceable warp no one could follow him.

He'll most certainly be kicked out for this. They may even kill him for it.

But none of that mattered now. If there was even the slightest chance of saving his dad, then he had to try. If he succeeded, he'd be thrown out of the Toppat Clan, sure, but his father would be alive and safe.

If he failed, he'd probably be dead anyway so it didn't really matter what happened after that.

Henry uncoils his limbs, feeling stiff from being curled up for so long. He gets off the floor and folds up the picture, placing it securely in his pocket. He goes to put on his hat and hesitates, then sets it on the bedside table.

He's no longer a Toppat, not after what he is about to do.

_Sorry Ellie, but family comes first. I hope you can forgive me for this._

Henry unscrews the air vent above his desk and crawls inside. He'd studied the vent system excessively, just in case he ever needed that knowledge. He certainly needs it now.

First stop, the records room. After that a long crawl down to the teleporter room.

Henry steels himself and his conviction, pressing a hand over the photograph and hearing it crinkle.

_Hold on, Dad. I'll be there soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to have to seriously be careful, or half the works on this account are going to be inspired by FlamingRedAnon's stuff. I can't help it, they're such a good writer and make a ton of cool AUs. If you haven't checked out their AO3 or Tumblr yet, go do it. Seriously one of the coolest people in the fandom.
> 
> But yeah, this won't be the last thing inspired by their works on this page. Not by a long shot.


	2. Left Among the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are ramifications to all actions, especially ones like this.

To say that Reginald is upset about this whole situation is a major understatement. He thought he'd seen the last of Terrence Suave when he was thrown from the airship more than two decades ago. He thought he was finally free of his tyranny.

Apparently he was mistaken.

Because now Terrence has returned as a revenge-seeking cyborg, striking out at the Toppat Clan in any way possible. He's out for blood and wouldn't stop until they made him.

The assault team has been chosen and fitted with weaponry that can bring down even a rampaging cyborg. All that's left now is to wait until the time is right.

"Chief! There's been an unauthorized use of the teleporter room! Someone's hacked one of our platforms!"

Reginald jerks up, straightening his posture and reaching for the comm system, "which platform is it? Where did the hack come from?"

If someone was attempting to warp on board from the surface, they could still stop them. And if they still made it through, the station was home turf to them. Even the military wouldn't get very far.

"Platform 3, Sir! And it's...not from Earth?"

"What!?"

The line opens back up a moment later, "the warp was outgoing, Sir! Someone just teleported off the station!"

"Who was it? Where did they go?" he asks, barely managing to keep from yelling through the comm.

"The warp was untraceable, Sir, and they didn't enter through the main doors so there's no card ID. We have no idea who it could've been."

Reginald pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, "check through the camera footage, then! Find out who it was!"

One of the Toppats snuck off? No, couldn't be. A prisoner, then?

There's silence for several minutes as the sub-in works. If only Burt hadn't gotten sick. He would've found the identity of the perpetrator without Reginald even having to ask.

"I've got the footage, Chief! I'm searching to find the culprit now."

There's a beat of silence, then, "found them! They're not wearing a hat, so maybe a prisoner? Wait, no-"

He stops abruptly, and Reginald almost calls for security to check on him. Then the channel reopens.

"It's Stickmin, Chief! He was the one who hijacked the teleporter!"

Reginald is stunned for a moment, then lets out a torrent of curses. _Of course_ it was Stickmin. Him going rogue was just what they needed right now.

First Terrence, and now this. They needed to act quickly.

"Lock down the other platforms and put a guard team on 3. If he tries to come back using the same method, we'll catch him. Send someone to the vault and check if he's taken anything. And have Ellie Rose brought to my office."

Hopefully this will be enough. It's a good place to start, anyway.

There's something still bugging him about this, though.

Despite their rocky first encounter, Henry has been nothing but loyal to the clan since he joined during the launch. He's shown no signs of betraying them in all this time and instead whole-heartedly devoted himself to the Toppat Clan.

It didn't make any sense. Why betray them now?

And why just after Terrence's reappearance? As much as Reginald believed that to just be a coincidence, he couldn't dismiss it so easily. The timing was too close, and he'd be a fool to reject any evidence just because he couldn't see the connection.

There was something they were missing here, and hopefully Rose could shed some light on it.

* * *

When someone knocked on her door at 8:00 in the evening, Ellie was confused.

When she opened the door to find a pair of guards standing there, she was concerned.

When one of them told her she was being brought to the chief, she was immediately alarmed.

She didn't think she'd done anything to get a personal summons from the chief, so either she was being brought in for something she didn't do.

Or she was being brought in because of Henry.

Ellie didn't believe him in the slightest when he said he was just feeling nauseous. She'd seen how he looked right before he left the assembly hall, watched the color drain from his face until he was as pale as a ghost.

He'd tried to seem nonchalant when brushing her off later in the hall, but there was still that look on his face, like his world was ending around him. He looked inches from having a meltdown and just wanted to go back to his room.

She'd let him go without a fight, given him his space. Now she wished she'd gone to check on him. What could he have done?

Knowing Henry, it was something pretty drastic.

_I just hope he's okay._

Before she knows it, they're standing outside Reginald's office. The walk had flown by but being lost in your thoughts can do that. One of her escorts presses a button on the wall above a small speaker.

"It's Bell and Harris. We've brought Rose," the blonde one, Bell, says.

Its only a moment before the speaker crackles to life, "yes, bring her in."

Harris puts his hand on the wall scanner and the door slides open. He goes first, then her, and Bell brings up the rear as they're ushered inside.

The two guards take station on opposite sides of the door behind her. In front of her, seated at a large desk half-covered in neat stacks of paperwork, is Chief Reginald. Right Hand Man stands off to his side, watching her with two stormy eyes.

"Do you know why you're here, Ellie Rose?" he asks. Ellie has to fight to keep a straight face. He sounded just like her old high school principle, right down to the word choice.

She nods, "I think so. Something Henry's done?"

"Correct. Do you know what he did?"

A shake of her head, "no, Sir. He wasn't himself earlier and I was worried he did something crazy, especially after I was called here."

Reginald sighs, "he has. About thirty minutes ago he hijacked one of the teleporter platforms and warped off the station. I don't suppose you know why he's done this."

Ellie is stunned silent. Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't that. She runs a hand through her hair, processing this new information.

"No, Sir," she finally says, "I have no idea. Where did he go?"

"We can't pinpoint exactly where he warped to. He used an untraceable warp. All we know is that it's somewhere in the northern hemisphere, which doesn't narrow it down very much," there's a strange light in Reginald's eyes as he asks his next question, "you said he was acting off earlier? Tell me what happened."

Ellie hesitates, not wanting to betray her friend. But if he was going to run off and leave her to worry, she has a right to try and find him. With this in mind, she speaks up, "it was during the assembly earlier today. He practically ran out of the room about halfway through. I caught up afterwards to check on him, but he said it was just an upset stomach. He was obviously lying, but I let him go. I've never seen him so upset than I did then. I thought he was going to have a breakdown right there in the hallway."

Reginald's eyes narrow, "that brings me to another point. The timing of Henry's betrayal and the resurfacing of former chief Suave is too close to be a coincidence, especially after what you just told me. Do you know of any connection between the two? Any contact they may've had in the past?"

"None, Sir," she says as she shoves down her unease at his use of the word _betrayal_ , "Henry doesn't talk about his past often. Everything I've learned is something that can already be found out about him, such as what happened to get him thrown into The Wall. He's tight-lipped about anything else."

Her chief stares at her hard then glances back at his right hand. They share a _look_ before he speaks again, "thank you Ellie. You've been helpful. Hopefully we can clear this up without having to shoot your partner."

"It was my pleasure, Sir. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I want to believe that Henry had a good reason for this, but we both know how slippery he can be."

He nods, then pauses.

"There is one thing you can do. We're sending a team to check his quarters, see if he left any hint of his intentions. I'd like you to go with them. You know Henry best and would be most likely to know what you're looking for."

"Of course. When do I leave?" Ellie stuffs down her guilt at the thought of going through Henry's room without his permission. She knows how much his privacy means to him.

But at this point it was more about keeping him alive. She could apologize once she was sure he wasn't going to be executed for deserting the Toppat Clan.

"As soon as the team gets here. They'll arrive within the next ten minutes. Until then, what can you tell me about his history? You must know something."

Ellie leans forward and begins to speak. It doesn't feel right, spilling her partner's life story to the chief, but she doesn't have many other options.

It was all she could do to help him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a slow chapter, but I do have to do a bit of setting up before we can get to the good stuff.


	3. Darkness and Enlightenment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two threads intertwine as discoveries are made and the moment of recompense and reunion draws ever closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor horror elements in this chapter, or at least they're supposed to be. I'm not the best at writing suspense.
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, like always.

The teleporter dropped him in a clearing, secluded and surrounded by dense forest. This was the location the assault team would warp down to in a little over twelve hours.

He hoped by that time he and Dad were long gone, as far away from the Toppat Clan as they could get. If not, he'd probably be nothing more than a bloody smear on the forest floor when they arrived. Cyborgs were incredibly dangerous, and Henry knows just how much peril he's putting himself in by doing this.

It was worth it though. For his family, for Dad, he would face any danger.

He pulls out the stolen file and flips through it, using the light of the setting sun to read. He'd considered leaving it in the records room or the vents, but there was a chance he'd need it again. And he didn't want to broadcast his intentions, not when it could put his plan, this last bit of hope, at risk.

According to the file, the cyborg that had once been his father was seen stalking through these woods often. Exactly why was a mystery, but if Reginald believed this was the best place to find him, then that was enough for Henry. The man was a genius, and he had no doubts that Reginald was correct on this, even if he was wrong about his dad.

But he had information on the situation that Reginald didn't. He didn't know Dad like Henry did.

So he just had to look and hope to come across him? That wasn't a very good plan, but it was all he had to work with.

Henry folds the file back up and stuffs it in his pocket. It's the right pocket, not the left one with the photograph, that he puts it in. He would never be so rough with that precious picture.

The woods seem to creak and groan around him. It was getting dark already, and the moon was just beginning to rise. 

A cold wind blew through the trees as the sun's warmth bled from the Earth. Henry felt the chill in his soul, held off by that small flicker of hope, a tiny flame he refused to let go out.

He would either be coming back home with his dad.

Or he wouldn't be coming back at all.

* * *

The door to Henry's living quarters slide open, the hand scanner keyed to him overridden by the master access code.

Ellie steps into the room, flanked by the two guards as well as another pair of Toppats. They enter one after another and begin searching the room from top to bottom. They leave no metaphorical stone unturned.

She gets rid of her disquiet by forcefully reminding herself why she's here.

_This is for Henry. This is to make sure the clan doesn't kill him._

The cover to the air vent was sitting on his desk, leaving no question for how he got around undetected. She had guessed that much. Henry treated traveling through the vents like second-nature. It was as easy as breathing to him.

The Toppat Clan really needed to start putting cameras in the vents that were big enough to crawl through. Even if having them that big was a necessity, there was no reason to have such a huge blind spot on the station, especially when you considered that Henry did the exact same thing when he broke into the airship in the first place. You think they would've learned the first time.

Ellie mentally shakes herself, chasing off the distracting thoughts.

_C'mon Ellie, focus. Save partner's life now, criticize the clan's security later._

The other two are already going through the drawers in his desk, a good place to start if you didn't know Henry at all. He doesn't write plans down, he just does them.

 _But that's why you're here_ , her brain supplies, _nobody in the clan knows him better._

And that's what worries her. Henry's usual style of planning left no physical trace. He didn't think, he just did. It made him incredible in the field but infuriating to trace.

They'd have to get very lucky to find anything, much less something that happens to be useful.

She searches through the room alongside the other two. They must be from the investigation department, and she doesn't recognize them.

Either way, they're having as little luck as she is.

Ellie's heart sinks. If they couldn't find anything, what did that mean for Henry? Would he be locked up as punishment or executed on accusations of desertion?

She didn't want that. _Oh god she didn't want that._ Henry was the first person she felt herself connect to in a very long time. They were like two halves of a whole, and losing him would be like losing a part of herself. He was her partner in more ways than one.

All she could do was hope for a miracle.

And it seemed that for once, something was listening. 

Her foot hits something as she paces by his bed. She hears whatever it was she just kicked hit the bottom of the bed and then the floor.

Ellie freezes. She hadn't seen anything there when she walked in, but maybe she just missed it. Whatever it was, it could be important.

She snags the issued flashlight from her belt and kneels down on one knee. The space under the bed is narrow, and she has to drop onto her stomach to see underneath. She clicks the flashlight on and looks for the source of the sound.

The ray of light reflects off something under the bed frame. Ellie has to squint, shifting the light and her head to see what it is. Finally, she gets a good look at the object.

Her breath catches. That can't be what she thinks it is.

_No way am I that lucky._

She reaches toward the object, hoping that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

They weren't.

Out from under the bed she pulls the one object that might give her a hint as to what's going on, why her partner ran from the assembly and the station.

It's Henry's cellphone.

The screen is cracked in a way it wasn't this morning, probably a result of being punted into the bed frame, but it still lights up when she presses the power button.

Ellie could cry from the relief she's feeling. Instead, she gets up off the floor and sits on Henry's bed.

She's immensely grateful now that he gave her the passcode back when he first set it. He'd trusted her with knowing how to access it, and Ellie never intended to betray it. These were extenuating circumstances, though.

 _He didn't trust you with what was bothering him, didn't trust you enough to say a word before disappearing,_ a voice that sounds suspiciously like her mother says in her head. Ellie shuts it up. Henry has been working solo for a very long time, just like her. She knows just how difficult it is to trust someone else after only trusting yourself for so long, especially with matters close to the heart like she suspected this was for him.

The pure devastation on his face after the assembly was enough of a testament to that. She couldn't help him then, but she could help him now.

She types in the passcode and unlocks his phone.

* * *

The sun has long since set, and Henry is still searching.

He's found nothing so far, and as the lengthening shadows bleed into each other to swallow the forest in darkness, he can't help but shiver in a way that has nothing to do with the cold.

These woods felt _alive_ , shifting and moving in a way that should be impossible. The little moonlight that filters through the leaves does nothing but cast fractured shadows across the ground.

It felt like the woods were _watching him_ , the lone traveler in this desolate space. He was but a single soul in this land of deepest darkness, where the night itself lurked among the trees.

Henry buried his unease. His mind is playing tricks on him, taking advantage of the primal fears in his brain. There was nothing about these trees that made them different from any other, nothing about these shadows that made them more threatening than their kin.

He puts a hand over his left pocket, holding his hope against the darkness and fear like a beacon. There was something more important here than this primal terror, _someone_ who he would face down this fear for a hundred times over.

The woods didn't change, but the choking terror receded from his mind, chased out by the hopeful light. Henry was stronger that this instinctual fear. He would not fall to it. 

Not with what was at stake here.

The chill returned, this time as the result of a cold wind rustling through the trees. He wrapped his arms around his torso, wishing he'd brought a jacket. In his rush to get off the station before he could be discovered, he'd forgotten to grab one.

It wasn't _that_ cold, but it was enough to make him shiver. Henry rubbed at his arms with icy hands and kept walking.

Something _snapped_ in the blackness behind him.

_Hello, adrenaline._

Henry's heart jumped into his throat. He turned hastily, almost tripping over own his feet in what felt like blinding panic.

He tried to force himself to calm down, but the alarm bells screaming _DANGER, DANGER, DANGER_ would not be silenced.

The shadows seemed as though they would swallow him in an instant like a gaping maw, closing in on the fool who dared walk here.

_It could just be a wild animal. There's a lot of things in these woods other than just you. Stop being so paranoid._

But Henry couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, stared at through eyes that belonged to something far more bloodthirsty than the imaginary phantoms his mind had conjured.

Henry felt _hunted_.

And as his panicked eyes darted across his surroundings following some long-buried but still there prey instinct, something in the forest _glowed_.

A single eye, lit electric blue, was watching him through the trees.

* * *

Ellie stared at the phone screen in disbelief.

Of all the places she expected to find what she was looking for, Henry's emergency contacts was not even close to her first choice.

But here it was. Or rather, here _he_ was.

When she opened the contacts app, it was something of a last resort. She'd found no mention of the former chief anywhere on his phone and was beginning to think Reginald had been mistaken.

Then she checked his emergency contacts, half on a whim, and was proven wrong.

The photo ID on the contact labeled "Dad" had made her stop in her mental tracks. _There's no way that's..._

Ellie dug her own cellphone out of her pocket, unlocked it, and opened her announcements. She shifted through them until she came to the notes from the assembly earlier, the version that was sent out so any who missed it for one reason or another would still be informed.

There, the picture of the cyborg, former chief Suave.

She held her phone up next to Henry's, comparing the image to the one in his contacts. There are some differences. The one in the announcements is half metal, after all. But they were closer than the picture Reginald had shown at the assembly of a much younger Terrence Suave.

It's the same face, the same _person_.

_Holy shit._

This was insane. When Reginald mentioned a possible connection between the two this was far, _far_ from what she envisioned. An old contact, a brief ally, maybe even an enemy, but not this.

Not family.

Her brain finally catches up with her train of thought.

Family. _Dad_.

_Oh, Henry._

No wonder he'd fled from the assembly like the devil was on his heels. No wonder he was barely holding himself together when she found him afterwards.

Ellie can't even imagine what must've been going through his head, what it felt like to see a family member twisted and altered in such a way.

And now he's gone, run off for some unknown reason.

But maybe not so unknown anymore.

She manages to find her voice and gets the attention of the two investigators.

"I think I've found our connection."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It would be no fun if I just jumped to the best parts, now would it?


	4. Slivers of Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night deepens, the hour grows late, and a light greets those who search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who has read and enjoyed my work, thank you so much for your support! I couldn't do this without your kind words! I've been blown away by the positive feedback I've gotten, and hope to keep creating content you will enjoy.
> 
> I was uncertain about this chapter. The first three I wrote in a creative rush and then fell off it for a little bit. But once I got past the part that had me stumped I got back on track.

He's been staring at the photograph for what felt like hours, trying to get the pieces of his brain back in the right spots after they were shaken loose by this discovery.

It was undeniable now. One of his newest and cleverest recruits had a connection to Terrence Suave, and not just any connection.

A _familial_ connection.

It was all Reginald could do to not start yelling. Even though he didn't know who or what to yell at, it would surely get rid of the pressure in his chest.

But screaming to get out his frustrations was the least productive thing he could do right now. Even if it would make him feel better to do so.

In reality, only a minute had passed since Rose passed him Henry Stickmin's cellphone, and the damning evidence contained within.

It was just one photo. Just one, and it told Reginald everything he needed to know about who Terrence was to Henry.

_Father and son. His hated former chief and his recruit were father and son._

He wasn't one to fault people for their family. Nobody could control who their parents were, who raised them. There were members of the Toppat Clan who were born of some of their worst enemies: the black sheep of a military, the prodigal son of a rival kingpin, the list went on and on. All bad apples fallen from the family trees of other orchards into their Clan, becoming loyal members.

But this was different.

For one, the conflict with Terrence Suave was much more personal, much closer to home than those with the others' families. But even then, if Henry had walked in and proclaimed himself as Terrence's son with the evidence to back it up, Reginald would not have turned him out immediately. Children were not their parents, after all.

But Henry hadn't done that. He'd slipped into the Clan undetected, worked alongside him and the other members without them knowing his heritage. There could be explainable motives for that, but it still made Reginald uneasy. He was deliberately hiding information that could be dangerous to them.

Especially since it meant he hid the fact that Terrence was still alive.

That, more than anything else, was what bothered him.

Terrence had survived his fall and lived on undetected in the twenty-two years since the day Reginald became chief. Not once had he made any attempt to get revenge for his dethronement.

The man he had known would have done anything to get his vengeance. He would not have waited two entire decades.

Reckless and impatient, those were the two things Reginald remembered clearest about him. That and his infamous temper.

All that added up to a man who would have bust back into the airship guns blazing at the nearest opportunity in a revenge-fueled rage. Not one who would lay low for so long, quietly living without so much as a rock thrown in their direction.

Not one who would raise a child.

And that brought him full circle, back to the discovery that started this train of thought.

Back to Henry Stickmin.

The timing of his desertion was definitely not a coincidence. Not even two hours had passed after his announcement of Terrence's return before Stickmin went awol. There was no denying it now.

That still didn't answer the question of why. What was he attempting to do?

There was so much they still didn't know, too much. Too many unanswered questions. Having this much unknown was dangerous when dealing with a threat of this severity.

There were some things he could figure out, though.

Judging by the photograph in Stickmin's contacts, Terrence had not been a cyborg since the fall. When he first learned their unknown assailant's identity, that had been his suspicion. He had theorized that Terrence survived thanks to cybernetic augmentation.

But the photo disproved that. At the time it was taken, Terrence had not been augmented. He was far older than the last time Reginald saw him, but Terrence was completely human in the photo, no metal replacements.

So the augmentation was recent, or at least semi-recent.

Reginald believed the former to be true. If he had been a cyborg longer, the Stickmin would not have had such a reaction to the news.

While the investigation team and Rose had been searching Stickmin's quarters, he'd had the camera footage from during and after the assembly pulled. There were no cameras in the living quarters, but he was able to follow the recruit's path from the assembly hall to his room in Residence Section G.

Upset didn't even begin to cover the reaction he'd observed. Stickmin was distraught and shaken in the footage, approaching unstable. Reginald didn't understand it at the time, what caused this intense response. But the reaction he'd displayed was far too raw to be a fabrication.

Henry Stickmin hadn't known about his father's rampage. He hadn't known about any of it.

His reaction, along with the fact that he'd bolted at the first opportunity, was proof of that.

So that ruled out any pre-meditated scheme. Whatever he had planned, it was reactive, and involved Terrence in some way.

That lead him back to the main question. What did Stickmin want with Terrence? Did he plan to handle this himself? Bring Terrence down on his own? Join him?

In the midst of his thought process, a thought entered his mind. A pointless thought that had nothing to do with the mystery he was attempting to unravel.

What was Stickmin and Terrence's relationship like?

It wouldn't leave him alone. Despite trying to stay on track, he kept getting derailed by tangents related to that question.

Was their relationship a positive or negative one? Were they close? Distant? What had their home life been like?

Were they biologically related? If so, who was the mother? There wasn't much of a resemblance there, but Stickmin may have inherited more from the other parent. If they weren't biological relatives, why had Terrence taken him in? He wasn't exactly the adopting type, not when Reginald knew him.

All of that was irrelevant to the issue at hand. What mattered now was that one of his recruits had gone rogue, chasing the half-metal monster that remained of Terrence Suave. 

Reginald looked up at Rose, still in the same spot she had been when she handed him the phone.

"Thank you for your help. This discovery will be invaluable to discovering the motive behind Stickmin's actions."

She looked like she wanted to say something, but was keeping quiet. There was a conflicted look on her face, a sign of internal unrest.

"Is there something you would like to say?" Reginald urged, trying to coax her into speaking her mind. If something related to this wasn't sitting right with her, it could be important.

"If I may?" she asked, a determined look replacing the turmoil.

He nodded in reply, giving her the go-ahead.

"When he is caught, I'd like the chance to talk to him. I want to know why he ran off. I know he wouldn't do something like this lightly. He must have a reason, and I want to know it."

That was fair. The two were partners. They'd joined the Toppat Clan together, and as such she had a right to know as well.

"Of course. If we can take him alive, you will get the chance to speak to him."

He doesn't miss the way she flinches at the _if_. She's not stupid, not by a long shot, so she must know this could be a possibility. That he may die if he tries to fight them.

They will try to avoid that if they can, but if it comes down to it Stickmin made the conscious choice to run. They had grounds in Clan protocol to execute him with no questions asked.

But Reginald wanted to know _why_. And that meant bringing him back in one piece.

_If Terrence doesn't kill him first._

Reginald stills as that thought crosses his mind. He hadn't considered that.

Stickmin was Terrence's son, but who's to say that would stop him? Terrence was on a vengeful rampage and was killing any Toppat Clan member he got his hands on.

And Stickmin was a Toppat now.

Two of the victims of Terrence's attacks had been old friends of his. They were staunch supporters of the former chief when he was in power and heavily protested his dethronement. One had managed to survive with grievous injuries and was in a coma in the intensive care unit.

The other had not been so lucky. He'd been brutally murdered by one of his oldest friends.

They were not spared from Terrence's wrath.

Would Stickmin meet the same fate? Be mercilessly slaughtered by his own father?

The clock was ticking. Every minute that passed could change the outcome. They needed to find Stickmin quickly.

Or the next time they saw him, it could be as a corpse.

* * *

The glow is all he can see. The light, that shining blue light, is surrounded by the swallowing darkness. He can't make out its source through the blackness.

But that was unmistakably an eye.

An eye that pierced the darkness with its unnatural light. Real eyes, _human eyes_ , didn't glow like that.

Whatever that eye was attached to couldn't be human. Not fully.

Human eyes didn't glow.

_But robotic ones did._

Henry felt his entire body go rigid. His survival instincts, that primal fight-or-flight part of his brain, made his skin buzz with adrenaline. His baser mind was prepared to act, to do whatever it took to keep him alive.

It was his higher functions that kept him rooted to the spot, staring into that infinite night.

The wind blew cold, making the trees groan as the only sound in the darkness. All else was silent, the other ambient nocturnal sounds muffled.

Then, somehow both quiet and impossibly loud, a creak of metal in the stillness.

Then it was silent, then the creaking, then silence. And again, and again, and again.

With each creak the sound, and the eye, got closer.

Each sound was a step, each silent moment was one from an organic limb.

Henry had to fight not to run, not to bolt like his instincts were screaming to.

The shards of moonlight reflected off gleaming metal, made too-pale skin almost luminescent.

All he could catch were glimpses of fragments, pieces of an image he didn't want to see, briefly illuminated by the light spilling through the gaps in the leaves.

Even those small flashed turned his stomach.

There was no doubt what, _who_ this was.

He couldn't turn away, no matter how badly he wanted to. He had to watch.

The trees opened up, casting a pool of silvered light across the ground. The creaking, glowing shadow moved into it.

And suddenly Henry couldn't breathe.

His thoughts died a swift death, snuffed out by the twisted sight. He wanted to shut his eyes, to not be forced to see this.

But he couldn't look away.

It was _him. It was Dad._

His heart rebelled. There was no way this unholy hybrid of steel and flesh was his father. It couldn't be the same man who cared for him and taught him everything he knew. This metallic creature could not be the same as the one who raised him, who had loved him unconditionally for as long as he could remember.

But his brain knew. It couldn't stop itself from making the connections, from matching the half of the face not distorted by metal with the one in his memories.

The same salt-and-pepper hair, the same lines of age and stress and laughter.

The same eye.

_Not eyes. The other was gone, replaced by that alien light._

Frigid sickness floods his veins, making him even colder. This wasn't the same as the heated nausea that seized him on the station, that left him boneless with grief. It was different. It froze him to his core as he stared into those mismatched eyes.

Henry thought he could handle this. That the worst of the storm had passed, that he could weather the hurricane of emotions for Dad's sake.

That once they stood face-to-face he would be strong enough to look him in the eye and bring him home.

He was wrong.

There was ice in his soul, a blizzard in his mind. Seeing his father like this, distorted and half-covered in unfeeling metal was more than he could bear.

He thought seeing the images at the assembly would have prepared him for this.

It did not. Seeing the damage, the _corruption_ , with his own eyes was so much worse. It was like someone had reached into his heart and ripped it open, exposing his interior to the arctic night.

He couldn't _breathe._

That was his dad, the same one who'd taught him to pick himself up when he fell, who was always just a phone-call away when he was lonely or scared or just wanted to talk, who he could always come home to when everything went wrong.

An open door and open arms, always.

_That was his dad._

Stalking toward him through the shattered moonlight, with one glowing eye fixed on him in a blank stare 

There was no recognition there. There was no warmth or life in either eye. 

Those eyes were cold and dead. They were the eyes you'd find on a cadaver. It was like someone had removed everything that made Dad himself, his heart and mind and soul. All that was left was the physical remains, the husk that now stood before him. 

Another step forward, another metallic creak. 

He couldn't do this. 

Another step, organic, no sound. 

_He can't do this._

Henry took a step back, his flight response trying to take hold. He wants to flee, to put as much distance between himself and this cruel facsimile as he could. 

His head's a maelstrom, a whirlwind of emotions, all carried on an undercurrent of _no no no no. Oh god no._

He clamps down on his thoughts. 

_Enough._

_Breathe, in and out. In and out._

_In._

_Out._

_Pull yourself together, Henry._

He can't just run away, not because he's scared. 

He can't abandon his dad. 

Not now. 

Especially not now, not when he needed him. No one else could do this, could bring Dad back to his senses. 

Only him. 

He had to save him. 

He's all he has left now. Henry's burned all his other connections, his loyalties, the Toppat Clan, Ellie. He threw it all away for this. 

For his dad. 

Henry steadies himself, and even though he's still freezing, still feels torn open, he will make himself move. He can't just stand here, just like he can't turn tail and run. 

He's here, and so is Dad, and he won't leave until he's succeeded or died trying. 

Henry forces himself to relax, to smile, and calls out. 

"Hello, Dad." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The imagery in this chapter was so interesting to write. I loved it so much.


	5. The Depths of Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's prepared to do anything to save his family, no matter the cost to himself. 
> 
> Whatever it takes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This is the chapter that gives this fic its content warning. It gets a bit gruesome in this one.
> 
> I tried to be a bit experimental with my style at parts and don't know how well it worked. I think it came out good, though,
> 
> A huge thank you to everyone who leaves me comments! I cherish every single one even if I don't reply a lot.
> 
> As always, Feedback of any kind is appreciated!

They were words he'd said a hundred times before, prior to moving out and after during visits home. They were simply word, a simple greeting that had always held the same meaning. Familiar and light, if not a little more formal than he'd say these days.

This time, he says them with forced casualness. The familiar word, familiar title, familiar _voice_ may bring him back.

He wasn't visiting home or calling for a talk. He was here, in these unfamiliar woods, trying to bring the life back into this father's eyes.

_"Hello, Dad."_

They garnered no reaction, not even a sliver of recognition. 

Another step forward, simultaneously menacing and detached. 

Okay. He didn't expect this to be that easy. Whatever force was holding his father's mind hostage wouldn't release its hold so simply.

There's a moment of doubt, of the horrible thought that _maybe there's nothing left to free. The damage could be permanent._

No. He won't back our now. Doubts aside he has to keep trying.

"I was planning to visit home again soon. I missed you and Papa."

Another step closer.

"This is sooner than I thought I'd see you again. I wish-"

Henry goes quiet, his voice sticking in his throat. He manages to force himself to speak again.

"I wish it wasn't like this. This isn't you, Dad. You're not a monster."

The next step is heavy, metallic. He's getting too close. Henry needs to put some distance between them for safety, but his legs won't move.

"We have to get out of here. The Toppat Clan is going to kill us both if we stay. Please, you have to snap out of it."

The primal part of his brain is screaming at him now. He's willingly placing himself in mortal danger by doing this.

He ignores it. The risk is worth it for his family.

"You have to come back, Dad."

His voice shakes. He feels wetness on his face.

Damnit he can't start crying again now. He has to hold it together.

It's gone quiet.

Those creaking footsteps, that alternating pattern of sounds, has stopped.

He finds himself staring directly at his dad's warped face. Only a handful of footsteps away, and it feels like he's looming over Henry.

He clenches his hands to stop them from shaking. There's no room for terror, not now.

"You're stronger than this, Dad. Whatever is controlling you, you have to fight it. You taught me to never back down, to dig my heels in and stand my ground. So that's what I'll do."

He closes his eyes, takes a steadying breath, and opens them again.

"I'm not giving up. I won't leave without you."

For a moment, he thinks he sees a spark of recognition, a small glimmer of hope.

There's a sound of shifting machinery, countless mechanisms moving together, and Henry takes a step back. He feels more than hears the humming vibration, almost undetectable if not for the way it rattles through his bones.

The instinct proves correct as the robotic arm shifts into a cannon.

It glows with the same unnatural blue as his eye. The vibration grows stronger, pulsing through the air in rapid bursts.

The barrel of the arm cannon lights up, and the air fills with a high-pitched whine. Neon blue energy glows in the night.

It's only his reflexes that save him.

Henry throws himself to the ground as the cannon fires. The discharge of energy flies overhead, crashing through the trees.

He hears the impact behind him and the resulting explosion is bright enough to light the forest like daytime. It only lingers for a moment before he's plunged back into darkness.

It's a forceful reminder of just how outclassed he is. Henry is no pushover, but it was clear he couldn't fight him, not like this.

His strategy usually consisted of outmaneuvering or outsmarting his opponents. Fighting one-on-one like this was something he was capable of but was never his first choice.

If he survived fighting him head-on, it would take a miracle.

Henry gets to his feet, just in time to see another flash of energy.

This one hits closer, detonating practically under him. The blast throws him like a ragdoll, and the searing light nearly blinds him.

He slams into the ground and manages to get his feet under him quickly. There's spots in his vision as he fetches up against a tree, taking heaving breaths after the impact knocked the wind from him.

 _This is bad_ , he thinks. An understatement to be sure. He can't get even get close.

He has to find some way to bring him back, and quickly. The longer he takes the greater chance there will be of getting killed.

And if he dies it will seal Dad's fate. The Toppat Clan will kill him when they arrive in the morning.

They'll also find whatever's left of him, but that's beside the point.

The sound of another cannon shot charging only drives that home. He can't die here, not like this.

Henry moves as he hears the cannon fire, diving to the side as the trunk of the tree is reduced to ashes where he was standing. The crash of the rest of it hitting the ground is deafening. 

His body aches as he stands, feeling like he's bruised all over. He probably is. 

Tears prick at his eyes, though he can't distinguish which of his emotions they're from.

"You said you didn't want revenge! That nothing in your past life mattered, only us! Was that all a lie?!"

Henry's yelling now, over the ringing in his ears and the terrified frustration. The seed of doubt in his mind has sprouted, the 'what-ifs' taking root there.

_He can't be gone. **He can't.**_

"Were you just waiting for your chance?! Was this all you cared about, even when you said we were your world?!"

_**Please, no. I can't lose him.** _

"Papa's gone! He's missing and you're not even looking for him! He could be dead or worse and you don't even care!"

The words are acid in his mouth.

"Do you even care about us, or were we just distractions while you waited to take your revenge?!"

_I'm sorry, Dad._

He knows its not true, but he can't stop. His voice cracks from the strain.

"Did you ever really love me?!"

His whole body is shaking, breaths coming in gasps. He's completely exposed, standing out in the open.

If this is his last chance before he dies he wants to look his dad in the face, even if half of it is now metal.

He looks up, expecting to see the barrel of the cannon lit up with another shot.

It isn't. The cannon is dimmed, the electric blue lines of energy that had covered its surface were gone. There's an almost stunned look on Dad's face.

It's the first emotion he's shown since Henry found him. Hope burns brighter in his chest. He tentatively takes a step forward

"Dad? Can you hear me?"

The cyborg flinches and the cannon falls to his side, pointed at the ground. Henry takes another step forward, bolder.

"Dad, it's me. It's Henry. Do you know who I am?"

No reply, but a grimace crosses his dad's face. He was hearing him. He could still understand him.

"You know him. You're my family, my dad, and I'm your son. I'm here to bring you home."

There's a spark of soul in those eyes, and the cannon shifts back into an arm. It hangs limply at his side.

Henry can't help but smile faintly. It's real this time though, not forced. The tear tracks on his face are cold but he's long stopped crying.

"Let's go home, Dad."

He sees recognition in his human eye, the hints of a familiar light beginning to show like sunlight seeping through storm clouds.

For the first time since that assembly he feels a sense of release, like breathing out after holding your breath.

He comes to a stop just outside his father's reach. They're stood just feet apart, the moonlight splashed across him so only fragments are visible. His eyes have finally adjusted to the darkness again after the light of the blast. He can see Dad clearly, see the look on his face.

His expression is blank but there's life in his eyes.

Henry moves forward, stepping into the pool of moonlight. He aches from his hope, the chance that this final bid to save his family would not be in vain.

He's only a few steps away. It's him stepping closer this time, closing the gap between them.

Dad takes a stumbling step back, his cybernetic eye flickering. It's like an old video recording, appearing to fuzz and change colors. The electric blue is dimming, darkening and losing its hue.

Henry presses forward. He's not letting him get away, not when he's this close to breaking through.

He's close enough to reach out and touch him.

Close enough to see the moment it all goes wrong.

Dad goes rigid, the remnants of his face pinching in pain. The display of his cybernetic eye freezes, pausing in its glitching state.

A crackle of blue energy surges across the metal skin. His eye sparked, crackling with that electric blue like a neon warning sign.

He lurches forward, the movement more machine than man.

The humming fills the air again, and the hair on the back of his neck tingles.

Henry backpedals, his survival instinct overriding his brain.

The cyborg stills for a single moment, those dead eyes locking on him.

He shifts his feet to bolt our of reach, to put more than a few measly feet between them.

There's a sound of metal-on-metal, a mechanical whine as the cyborg charges him.

Henry moves to dodge the hit, barely more than a blur to his eyes.

He's not fast enough.

He feels the impact first, his body jerking with the blow. With the force of the punch, he should have been knocked back or down or out.

But he's still standing, kept unwillingly vertical.

He doesn't feel any pain either. His brain stutters, not processing the feeling.

All he can focus on is his dad. He's right in front of him, in arm's reach. There's an unreadable look on his face.

Then the cyborg shifts his arm. It's barely more than a twitch.

And something in Henry's chest _moves._

He looks down and immediately wishes he hadn't.

The missing pain slams into him with the force of a maelstrom. It shrieks through him in a wave of burning agony. His cry of pain is cut off, restricted as his lungs try and fail to fill.

His legs buckle under him. He should have fallen to the ground, but the metal arm in his chest keeps him upright.

Choked sounds of suffering spill from his lips as the drop jars the wound. He feels his insides shift in a way they were never meant to, torn flesh and broken bones jarring around the arm.

He struggles to get his feet back under him, to get the pressure off the unmoving metal in his chest. His legs are clumsy and uncoordinated as he tries to gain traction with the ground. Every minute motion sends searing pain through him. He grasps at the arm that's like a metal bar in his chest.

Henry grips the other hand at the wound the best he can, feeling where the metal impales him. The bloodstain is spreading fast, spilling past his hand and soaking into the fabric.

Black spots dance across his vision as he struggles to breathe, as his damaged lungs struggle to work.

This is it. He's going to die here. Even if he gets away, he can't close the hole in his chest. He'll bleed out in minutes. No one would find him until it was far too late.

It's the end of the line for him, but maybe not for anyone else, for his dad.

Henry lets go of the wound, placing both hands on Dad's arm. His feet skid on the ground and finally catch against the forest floor.

He lifts himself on trembling legs. The pain is like nothing he's felt before. It clouds his mind, makes him want to pass out just for a moment of relief.

That wouldn't help anything. He has to stay conscious as long as he can, even if it hurt like the fires of hell.

Henry forces himself to look away from the wound, to look up into his father's eyes. The edges of his vision darken with the movement.

He doesn't have much time left. Once he falls unconscious from his injuries, it'll be for the last time. He won't wake back up.

"Dad..."

His voice is shaky, sounds wrong to his ears. His head swims with the effort of speaking.

"I know you're still in there somewhere. You have to come back."

A cough cuts him off and he tastes blood.

"You have to. Please, Dad."

His vision grays out, fuzzing around the edges.

_No, not yet!_

"I'm sorry."

Another cough, bloodier.

"I'm sorry. I can't-"

His body feels heavy, his strength spilled out with his lifeblood.

Despite the pain and terror, a smile pulls at his blood-stained lips. He has to say it one last time before he goes.

"I love you, Dad."

The cybernetic eye flickers, flipping between colors in a fraction of a second.

Then he's falling, collapsing to the ground in a heap. He sees feet stumbling back, then knees hitting the ground before his vision goes dark.

A sound, a horrid mix of a scream and audio feedback splits the air.

It's the last thing Henry hears before he blacks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry.
> 
> Cliffhangers are fun but I need to be careful not to do too many. They tend to loose their punch if overdone.
> 
> (Edit: realized it was audio feedback, not speaker feedback, fixed that)


End file.
